Abstract #4057

STRUCTURAL CONNECTIVITY ABNORMALITIES UNDERLYING COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN PEDIATRIC MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Loredana Storelli¹, Maria Assunta Rocca¹, Ermelinda De Meo¹, Elisabetta Pagani¹, Lucia Moiola², Angelo Ghezzi³, Pierangelo Veggiotti⁴, Ruggero Capra⁵, Maria Pia Amato⁶, Agnese Fiorino², Lorena Pippolo³, Maria Carmela Pera⁴, Giancarlo Comi², Andrea Falini⁷, and Massimo Filippi¹

¹Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³Multiple Sclerosis Center, Ospedale di Gallarate, Gallarate, Italy, ⁴Fondazione "Istituto Neurologico Casimiro Mondino", Pavia, Italy, ⁵Multiple Sclerosis Center, Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy, ⁶Department of Neurology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy, ⁷Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

In this study, diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was applied to describe brain structural network architecture and connectivity abnormalities underlying cognitive dysfunction in 53 pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in comparison to 26 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC). Global and local network analyses were performed to assess between-group differences of connectivity metrics and cortical hubs. Cognitive impairment in pediatric MS patients seemed to be mainly associated to a reduced strength of connections of structural hubs and loss of efficiency in information transmission.

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